Domestic Violence



Abstract

The paper will try to explore the concept of domestic violence in detail from the perspective of healthcare. The paper will first discuss the overview of domestic violence towards the pregnant women and then will discuss the role of nurses towards the victims of domestic violence.

Domestic Violence

Introduction

The paper will discuss the domestic violence in terms of health related issues. It will discuss the overview of domestic violence related to pregnancy, nursing care considerations related to domestic violence, impact of battering to the individual client, newborn and the family, physical and mental assessment findings in a client who has been recently battered or battered in the past, and the role of nurse in domestic violence.

Prompt One: Overview of Domestic Violence Related to Pregnancy

It is generally understood that a woman during her pregnancy needs an affectionate treatment particularly. Hence, she must avoid stress as much as possible. The most frightening fact which is very high at this time where we need special care is that pregnant women are facing the risk of being victims of domestic violence. Approximately 23.5 percent of all women become victim of domestic violence one or more times in their lifetime. Many of them become the victim of domestic violence even during their pregnancy, the consequences of which do not only lead to the woman herself, but also to her child (Woodtli, 2000).

Domestic violence affects both the pregnant woman and her unborn child directly and indirectly. Visible physical injuries are just one of the consequences that may occur. This may under certain circumstances cause miscarriage, or even fatal consequences for the sufferers.

Often, the injuries are not visible to the naked eye but they are psychological. In more advanced pregnancies, domestic violence can also cause injury to the fetus, premature labor, premature births and stillbirths. By the violence and the resulting fear, resulting severe stress during pregnancy leads to a difficult pregnancy in around one third of the women. In this case, complications frequently occurs during childbirth, such as a so-called high-risk delivery, health problems such as a circulatory collapse of mother and lower weight of the newborn.

Prompt Two: Nursing Care Considerations Related to Domestic Violence

Violence in nursing is a big topic now days. Many times, we hear of patients who are being mistreated by their carers. However, the issue of violence in nursing is not just the nursing staff, but sometimes the caregivers. The care of people having different diseases often has a heavy burden for many caregivers (Hoff, 2000).

On the other hand, if a person is being victim of domestic violence within the healthcare premises, nurses can play a vital role in controlling that violence. In fact, they have to play a significant role to stop the violence against patients since they are considered as the caregivers of those patients and it is their responsibility to look after them.

Prompt Three: Impact of Battering to the Individual Client, Newborn and the Family

Domestic violence is a complex system of violence and power within a family relationship ...